“Witches Get Stitches Part 3”
Creative Staff:
Story: Ray Fawkes
Art: Alvaro Sarraseca
Colors: Salvatore Aiala
Letterer: Tom Napolitano
What They Say:
Purgatori on the Nile! It’s time for a game of crocodile-and-mouse in Africa with the coven of Purgatori’s least favorite witches, and the river’s going to run red with someone’s blood. Purgi knows that killing her enemies isn’t a problem — it’s what they’re doing to her mind after they’re dead that might very well destroy her. Maybe there really is no way for her to win this fight. Maybe it’s time to change the rules of the game.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
With the recent miniseries and the start of this series, I was slowly getting into Purgatori. But it was the second issue that helped to cement things better for me as it wasn’t as rushed and allowed for some good character exploration time. Ray Fawkes definitely made out better once not having to deal with the introductory side and got to delve into things that felt more streamlined and clearer, making it something you could see as a forward-looking book more than the opening was. The book makes out really well with Alvaro Sarraseca on board for the artwork as I really like their style and approach to her design which certainly keeps the attractiveness but doesn’t overly sexualize her, which sounds weird considering how little she wears but we’re talking about the framing of scenes and panel that doesn’t lean into it being all about the fanservice.
With this installment, things are getting clearer as to what the witch’s mission is and that they’re really not all that great at it. Which we kind of knew already but it’s being made even clearer here. We see how Juliet is basically seeing this as her thing and the one that will wield the power at the end and she’s trying to manage the skulls/oracles into what she needs to accomplish it. The mission has gone awkwardly so far and the way it plays out here shows that there are a lot of dangers in attempting what they’re doing with Purgatori. Seeing it go as south as it does is hilarious because of the overreactions back at the coven and how one of them sees this as the whole plan going up in smoke and two of her sisters lost and stuck in Purgatori’s head. But we keep seeing through the way this coven operates that Juliet is the true believe here with the big picture in mind, one she’s willing to take huge risks with.
Purgatori and Darwish flesh out the other half of the book in a good way as they’re in Kenya in the wilds as we see Darwish talk about a particular shapeshifting species that sneaks into human communities and kills. She’s distracted by feeling off, which is from the witches in her head, and the two have a really fun kind of awkward dynamic here because of this, especially since he’s not sure why she’s brought him along. We do get some action thanks to these creatures, but it takes a really fun and crazy turn when Claire shows up there to execute the next part of the plan, which they’re able to do because they can overpower and control Purgatori for a brief period of time. Darwish sees through this with a bit of quick thinking but he’s left in an even worse position by saving her rather than letting her get killed. It really delights in what it sets up here for their dynamic.
In Summary:
Purgatori has hopped to a few different places pretty quickly in these first three episodes but it manages to work pretty well and advances the story. I’m enjoying what’s up with the coven because it’s one that feels more realistic in a way for its failings and the panic of some of its members in really going through with things. Purgatori herself continues to be interesting though I’d love to have had more time with her being herself before things went south. Darwish is proving to be a great addition right out of the gate and his contributions and approach here in handling all of this is great and makes me hope he’s around for a good while yet.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 15th, 2021
MSRP: $3.99
